Switch careers! Find love! Travel the world! Get into shape! Why is it that we can strike little things off our day-to-day to-do lists, but our most heartfelt ambitions manage to elude us year after year? Yes, circumstances can trip us up. But all too often, we unknowingly get in our own way. “We tend to put barriers between our goals and ourselves because we become convinced that we’re either not up to the task of achieving them or we secretly don’t believe we deserve to accomplish them,” says Alice Domar, Ph.D., coauthor of Live a Little! (Crown). Enough already! Figure out what’s inhibiting you by taking this quiz, then follow the resulting advice to cross that finish line with confidence.

If your roadblock is…resistance to change

We know—it’s terrifying to make that first move toward a long-held goal: “Most of us experience discomfort when we break from our routine,” says Jim Loehr, Ed.D., a performance psychologist and the author of The Power of Story (Free Press). “The trick is to give yourself enough incentives to make tolerating that discomfort worthwhile.” To embrace the new, put yourself through these paces.

1. Fantasize about your future blissImagine how satisfied you’ll feel when you reach your objective. If you want a more fulfilling job, visualize doing work you’re passionate about. Jot down the specific emotions this achievement would evoke (“I’d feel inspired, not bored, at the office”). “You’re giving yourself some compelling reasons to move forward,” Loehr explains.

2. Escape the same old, same oldIdentify a few novel habits that could help you reach your goal and start integrating them into your schedule. If you want to find a new gig, you could revamp your résumé and resolve to send it to at least one potential employer a week.

3. Make the shift stickEvery morning, reread aloud how you’d feel if you realized your fantasy. Every evening, write down how well you’ve fared with your new habits and record any progress. (You scored an interview!) “This method will help you tie your actions to your goal, which will make your efforts seem producticve and propel you further forward,” Loehr says.

If your roadblock is…perfectionism

It’s awfully tempting to put off pursuing your goal until you’re better prepared or totally sure you can hit the mark. Unfortunately, that ideal moment may never come. “Perfectionism can be paralyzing,” says Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, author of The Power of Women (Times Books). Perfectionists tend to have an all-or-nothing view of the world (“I need to drop 20 pounds before I can rock a bikini!”), so it’s important to identify the rewards that come with making even a bit of progress toward your dream, Nolen-Hoeksema explains. (You can still frolic in a two-piece and feel good about your body without dropping two dress sizes.) To do that, write down your aim (e.g., to lose 20 pounds). Then detail how you’d benefit from getting 25 percent, 50 percent or 75 percent of the way there.

“This exercise will help you value incremental change,” says Nolen-Hoeksema, who advises patting yourself on the back each time you make one stride. “If you don’t reach your initial benchmark, you’ll be able to relish the progress you have made without getting demoralized.”

If your roadblock is…catastrophizing

Playing out every possible what-if may seem like a smart way to make absolutely certain that pursuing a goal is advisable, but when you think about all the disasters that could ensue, “you inevitably psych yourself out,” says Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., author of My Stroke of Insight (Penguin). Instead, get out of your head and into the moment with these tips from Taylor that will help you stop overanalyzing and start acting.

Doomsday dilemma I’m freaked out by what could go wrong.Soothing solution To prove to yourself that the earth will not shatter if you move forward, take one tiny step toward what you’re striving for, Taylor suggests. Do something unintimidating, such as exploring an aspect of your goal online. (If you want to start a blog about crafting, check out three similar sites.) You’ll get closer to your dream without stressing out.

Doomsday dilemma I second-guess myself so much, I’ve stalled.Soothing solution Anchor yourself in the present by focusing on the physical sensations you experience when you do something related to reaching your dream: If you’re surfing sites, draw your attention to your breath as you look at a particularly cool webpage. “Immersing yourself in the sensory side of the process will help you get into the flow and focus on what you can do in that moment,” Taylor says. “That creates momentum.”